Don't Change for Me
by Pafoof
Summary: Lily becomes convinced she has to change for James to remain interested...James is quick to correct her


" He's going to get bored." Lily looked up from her book she was reading sprawled out on her bed and sighed quietly. The speaker had been Caroline, a girl that Lily didn't know or like very much. She glanced over to where Marlene was drawing on the window sill and saw that she was paying no attention to the conversation going on around her and would therefore be no help. Lily set down her quill, more than a little tired of her tedious Transfiguration essay. She stretched and sat cross legged to stare at the girl getting ready for going out.

"Are you referring to James? Why on earth would he get bored? Our relationship is great! Besides I think a few weeks is a little soon to get bored after he waited for two years to get me as a girlfriend." Carol smirked and crossed the room like a cat, graceful and swift. She brushed through her long blonde hair and Lily scowled. Carol was pretty close to being bloody perfect. Just about all the boys at Hogwarts wanted her or had her already. She knew how to get any guy she wanted and the rest of the girls pretty much despised her. Marlene rolled her eyes.

"You just can't spot a functional, happy relationship. Lily and James are perfectly happy." Caroline gave a derisive laugh as she finished, looking fantastic. She popped a hip and put a slim hand on it.

"Look, James Potter can play the guy who wants a nice girl for a while but every single boy I've ever met has an itching for a naughty girl every once in awhile. You need to show him your bad side Evans. He wants sexy, he wants dirty, and if he doesn't have it then he'll look for it else where. For instance, the Prewetts are throwing a party tonight. You should go and have a good time with your boyfriend. James loves those kinds of parties, he's never missed one." Lily scrunched her nose at the thought of the ridiculously loud music and drunk classmates. People always went to those parties and came back with a new reputation, normally a ruined one. The last party in Hogsmeande had been broken up by Aurors and was in the back of the Prophet. That' s the last thing she needed in her seventh year while she was trying to apply for Healer training.

"I'm not ruining my reputation and suffering a hangover tomorrow for some stupid party. I'm sorry but James can move on if that's what he wants." Caroline shrugged before picking up her handbag and going to the door.

"Well suit yourselves, I'll see you at some point tomorrow." She left and Lily closed her book, distinctly bothered. Caroline knew boys much better than she did. She knew the boys like James. Lily had only dated studious boys who would never get invited to a party, let alone want to go. James, however, was the life of every party and she knew he would be front and center tonight. She sighed and looked over at Marlene again.

"You don't think she has a point? James and I never exactly have that kind of fun." Marlene closed her sketch pad and looked at her.

"Look, James knew what you liked to do on a Saturday night before he wanted to date you. You shouldn't-"

"I'm making him change. Besides, would one party be so awful? I know Sirius invited you." Marlene flushed at the mention of the Black heir. Marlene and Sirius weren't dating exclusively but Lily knew it was only a matter of time. They were nearly always on again and off again.

"Sirius doesn't get what he wants all the time." Lily swallowed hard and knew that she wanted to do something for James.

"C'mon, we're going to this party. I can't stop thinking about James around all those girls. Besides, I know how to have fun even if I don't do it very often. We can be ready in twenty minutes." Marlene sighed before smiling and pulling a black dress from her trunk.

The girls entered the building that was pounding with music. It was crowded as they knew it would be. Lily immediately started looking for James but before she could find him Marlene shoved a drink in her hand.

"You'll need a drink or five before you start acting like them." Marlene nodded her head to the girls on the dance floor. Lily took one look and knew Marlene was absolutely right. She was more than a little nervous about acting like this in front of her new boyfriend. She had only been to a few parties and each time was memorable. She quickly refilled her glass and spotted James leaning against a wall, one foot propped on the wall behind him. There were three girls talking to him and Sirius already and more were eying him from various places. The alcohol was plenty and showed no sign of slowing down. A heavy bass beat filled the air and suddenly Lily was being dragged on the dance floor by Marlene.

"What are you doing? I'm not nearly drunk enough for this." Marlene put her drink on the table and took both of her hands.

"You don't need to be drunk, just let go." Lily closed her eyes and tried to do just that. She didn't think about James and all the girls who wanted him. She just focused on the beat and tried to let her body feel the music. She ended up blushing as she opened her eyes and saw more than one man staring at her. Marlene tugged her closer and smirked as they attracted even more attention. Lily couldn't help laughing. This was so far from what normally happened it was hilarious. Normally boys didn't really look twice at her and now they couldn't look away.

"Are we taking off the sweaters tonight ladies?" Sirius's voice carried over the music. Marlene smiled at him as she turned around let Sirius wind his arms around her. She whispered something in his ear to make him grin. Lily was a little disappointed that Sirius had stolen her friend's attention. She began to get nervous dancing alone when it was obvious that most of the guys couldn't care less who they took home nor how willing they were. She lost confidence and considered going to get another drink when a pair of hands grabbed her hips. She felt her heart in her throat and had her wand in her hand faster than she could turn around. She pointed it between a pair of unfailingly familiar hazel eyes. She sighed when she saw James with his hands up and looking rather amused.

"Sorry, I thought you were one of them." She nodded to the boys loitering around the dance floor and James gave them a fierce glare. He firmly pulled her against him and Lily felt herself blush and wrap her arms around his neck.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had Transfiguration to study." James said with his breath brushing her ear before nibbling on it. "Dirty looks hot on you Evans" Lily grinned and ran her hands over his chest. James looked gorgeous tonight in a tight deep red button up shirt, half undone, and dark jeans. His chest was toned, warm, and smooth as she ran her fingers over it.

"I decided to come have fun with you. I thought it was about time you chose our Saturday night activity. Let's have fun!" Lily picked up a drink from the table and downed it in one.

Needless to say, the rest of the night was quite a blur.

Lily woke up and grabbed her head immediately. Hammers were obviously beating her head from all sides and her mouth tasted disgusting. She was naked, which wasn't all too surprising and from the smell of the pillow she was in her boyfriend's bed. She sat up and moaned aloud but was determined to see whether everyone was gone. She saw James propped up next to her reading a book. He looked up at her but didn't seem too pleased. The little glow was missing from his eyes as he handed her a mug of coffee he had kept warmed. She sighed shakily and knew that last night had fallen apart. This was why she never drank that much.

"So you're mad at me." Her voice was hoarse and she swallowed some coffee to feel more like herself. James sighed and put aside the book he was reading. He looked at her steadily. The silence became uncomfortable. Lily felt ashamed and looked down at the mug instead of up at him. She reached for the sweatshirt but a hand on her wrist stopped her before she could tug it on. James sat close to her now and tucked some hair out of the way.

"I'm a little angry, but I'm mostly confused. That girl last night wasn't you. In some odd way I feel like I just cheated on you. Why on earth did you come to a party you weren't comfortable at? I told you that I didn't mind if you didn't come. I didn't plan on staying that long anyways. What is going on with you?" He kissed her gently and pulled her against him when she still had that lost look on her face. Lily felt absolutely humiliated.

"I don't know. Caroline was spouting her usual crap and I just listened and thought you might enjoy it if I acted different sometimes. I mean I asked you to change so-" James cut her off with a firm kiss before pulling back to look at her.

"You know Carol is always full of complete shit. Whatever she said-"

"She told me you'd get bored if I played studious girlfriend all the time." James shook his head.

"I'm not going to get bored of you. Honestly Lils, I'm totally crazy about you. Without you attending a single party. Secondly, you asked me to change for the better. That's much different than if I expected you to act like a whore. If I wanted someone like Caroline, I would have just dated her. It was sexy for a bit with you in a tiny dress and heels that made you taller than me even but then things got weird. I don't like not being able to recognize you. Do you get that? I love you so much, you don't have to change for me." Lily nodded, still unable to look at him. Last night had been a complete failure.

"I love you too, James. I really do and I hope you're not too angry at me. I don't know what I was thinking." James hushed her once more with a kiss and laid her back against his pillows. He rolled on top of her and Lily knew he loved her more than anything.

"You can act different by staying in bed all day with me." The usual mischievous smirk was back on his face. She stretched up and pulled him down for a kiss.

"I think I can manage that."


End file.
